Best First Hours

clowns

I am willing to give every video game genre a try, including what Wikipedia describes Heavy Rain as an “interactive drama” and “psychological thriller.” To the traditional gamer, those probably rank right up with the dating sim and train simulators of the world. Why play an interactive drama when I could just watch a movie?

But this is a valid question that can be used to juxtapose any type of media. Movies are an excellent format at telling a story in about two hours, while many games take a two hour story and stretch it across 12 hours with bits of action padding the time. Heavy Rain was created from the ground up to challenge the idea that not only can a video game tell a compelling story, but that it can deliver the same emotional punches that a movie can too.

Released in February 2010 by French developer Quantic Dream, Heavy Rain tells the story of a father, a journalist, a detective, and an FBI profiler all tracking down an elusive serial killer who targets young boys. As one of the PlayStation 3 exclusives I’ve wanted to play the most, I was very excited to get my hands on the game after two years. You can see my first hour review here, or read on for spoiler-free thoughts on Heavy Rain.

Everybody wants to be Batman. He was born with more money than most
third world countries. His car sips gasoline and pisses fire. He could
win the World's Strongest Man competition and the Jeopardy Tournament of
Champions simultaneously. He knocks boots with Catwoman at night and
brags to Superman in the morning. Whatever you aspire to be, Batman is it.

So it's surprising that no developer ever attempted the complete Batman
experience until 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum. Okay, maybe Batman isn't
quite "complete" without Batmobile or Bruce Wayne, but the game offered a
taste of the hunter/fighter/thinker dynamic that makes Batman so
Batmanly. Two years later, Rocksteady Games is back on the prowl with
Batman: Arkham City, because when was the last time a hit video game
didn't get a sequel? The new game promises an increase in scope parallel
with its subtitle: the play area has expanded from the asylum to a full
borough within greater Gotham City where evildoers and thugs (and maybe
also the mentally ill that legitimately need help?) have been corralled
and quarantined.

But enough prep, it's time to bust faces. Watch some snippets of footage
from early in the story and pretend you're Batman. It's okay, we all
still do it from time to time.

A year ago I played the first hour of Batman: Arkham Asylum. The conclusion was that I would keep playing “for a while,” and much of that decision rested on what percentage of the game would the stealth gameplay take up. I had to give the game back to who I was borrowing it from, however, and Arkham Asylum started burning a hole in my brain. I began to really want to play it again, but the opportunity never came up the rest of the year. When Christmas rolled around I said I wanted one game, and one game only: Batman.

I received the game but forced myself to beat Fable II before I moved on to something bigger and better (if I play more than one game at a time I’m bound to never play one of them again). The moment after I saved Albion again I switched over to Arkham Asylum and went to town.

Released in mid-2009, Arkham Asylum seemed to spring out of nowhere from absolute nobody Rocksteady Studios. Why and how these guys received the criminally under performing Batman license and then went out and made one of the best games of the year is a bit mind boggling, but a story for another day.